Big First Inning Lifts Wheaton Past MIT, 6-5

Junior John Drago

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In the first game of a three-game series between the top two teams in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball standings, a five-run first inning proved to be the difference as Wheaton College parlayed the opening inning into a 6-5 win over MIT. Freshman Tyler Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) drove in a pair of runs in the first inning for the Lyons, while junior John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.) had three hits and scored three times for the Engineers.

Wheaton (24-7, 13-2 NEWMAC) put their first two runners on in the first on a walk and a base hit.
The first of three MIT errors in the inning loaded the bases for senior Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass.) who singled to right to bring in the first run of the game and then advanced to second on an error in the MIT outfield that allowed a second run to score. After a ground out, Walsh delivered his two-run single to right to make it 4-0. He later came around to score on a sac fly to give the Lyons a 5-0 cushion.

Drago led off the bottom of the first for MIT (16-10, 12-3 NEWMAC), singling and then moving up to second on a walk. Senior Alec Echevarria (Chula Vista, Calif.) then put the Engineers on the board with a single to left. The Engineers closed to three runs in the third when Drago led off with a double, coming around to score when Echevarria doubled with two outs.

MIT crept closer still in the fourth when the Engineers put runners on second and third courtesy of a hit batter and a double off the bat of sophomore David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.). A pair of groundouts, by seniors Kendall Helbert (St. Louis, Mo.) and Eric Tu (San Ramon, Calif.), scored the runners to make it a one-run game.

In the sixth Wheaton pushed across what proved to be the winning run, getting things started on a leadoff single by freshman Jared Sharkey (West Bridgewater, Mass.). A sacrifice, a single and a stolen base put runners at second and third for the Lyons. Junior Joshua LaJoie (Somers, Conn.) then brought in Sharkey with a groundout to short.

Drago started another MIT rally in the seventh with his second double of the game. After moving over to third on a groundball to short, sophomore Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) brought him home with a sac fly to center to make it a one-run game again at 6-5.

Wheaton's bullpen then did the rest, with senior Michael Baryski (Walpole, Mass.) setting down MIT in order in the eighth and senior Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass.) striking out the side in the ninth to record his 12^th save. Sophomore Dan Southerland (Dartmouth, Mass.) started for the Lyons and picked up the victory, going six innings and allowing four runs on seven hits. For MIT sophomore Will Loucks (Las Vegas, Nev.) started and took the loss, also giving up seven hits over six innings, with three of the six runs he allowed unearned.

Drago led MIT with three hits in five trips, collecting pair of doubles and scoring three times. Echevarria added two hits and a pair of RBI, with Heller finishing with a pair of hits as well. Walsh and junior Zachary Goodwin-Boyd (Florence, Mass.) both had 2-for-4 days to lead Wheaton, with Walsh driving in the two first inning runs.